In my BODYPUMP™ class (weight training to music), our instructor informed us she would be using "old music" so I was ready for rockin' 70s or 80s tunes. Until she added, "These songs were popular about six months ago." Wow. That's a new definition for old. That made me think of what that means in terms of new products. A marketing piece in The New York Times earlier this week by Stuart Elliott was headlined, "A Strategy When Times Are Tough: It's New!" Contrary to what you might think, a recession can be a good time to announce a new product. "One reason to stay the course on new products is that they can offer marketers new reasons to reach out to consumers when the impulse may be to pull back," writes Mr. Elliott. Not to mention new products can bring in important revenue. This strategy is echoed in Harvard Business Review's article, "How to Market in a Downturn" by John A. Quelch and Katherine E. Jocz. They advise marketers to "contain costs" but say, "Companies that put customer needs under the microscope, take a scalpel rather than a cleaver to the marketing budget, and nimbly adjust strategies, tactics, and product offerings in response to shifting demand are more likely than others to flourish both during and after a recession." So when "old is the new new" (or is it "new is the new old?"), now is the time to keep the new product pipeline full and marketing efforts engaged so your brand stays top-of-mind with consumers now and when the economy rebounds.

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Flip-flopping is bad in politics and in business, right? Not so, according to Jack and Suzy Welch in their March 9 BusinessWeek column. Here is what they say: "What nonsense. It is the essence of leadership to have the self-confidence to admit that a strategy has gone off course or a position has become outdated...Change happens." We whole-heartedly support this position when it comes to business. When is the last time that a project moved perfectly from A to Z? More likely you ran into obstacles, experienced changes or met unexpected outcomes. To some, that might mean failure or poor planning. But if you waited for each and every question to be answered before moving forward, you never would. What leads to success (or not) is how you recalibrate at each roadblock. As the business gurus write, "...it is the responsibility of all leaders in such a 'predicament' to revise their direction swiftly, widely communicate it, and move on without undue pandering or emotionality." What do you think about flip-flopping?

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Here's another case of a writer who approaches the craft as a business. A USA Today interview with Jodi Picoult, who is promoting her 16th novel, Handle with Care, notes how she spends months researching each book. Reporter Deirdre Donahue writes "Every inch an ultra-organized, list-making go-getter, Picoult turns upside down the stereotype of a creative soul awaiting her muse." Which reminds me of the Cult of Done Manifesto which I saw yesterday. The Manifesto lists 13 steps which translate to "just do it." My favorites: "Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it." and "Done is the engine of more." This may not apply to every industry (and we'll never get past our Type A tendencies!) but I've always found that starting, no matter how imperfectly, is the route to finishing.

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The opinions expressed by Splash Communications, LLC and those providing comments on this blog are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of our clients, partners, or anyone else. Splash is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information although we will do our best to provide timely, interesting opinions. But we do reserve the right to change our minds. You can too.